Mass Effect: Temporal Storm
by Codename Dutchess
Summary: On Hiatus. When Harry's raid on the Ministry of Magic to rescue Sirius goes awry, he gets thrown forward in time, approximately 184 years. Later, when the secret Alliance vessel Normandy goes on its first voyage to Eden Prime, how will Commander Shepherd cope with an upstart Corporal on his first real assignment?
1. The Timely Accident

The hall of prophecy was in chaos. Shelves toppling onto shelves had created a deadly domino effect with bits of broken glass flying everywhere. The air was filled with shouts of Death Eaters and Dumbledore's Army members alike, but they could not compete with the thousands of broken prophecies relaying the words of prophesiers long since dead. It was an effective diversion.

Harry quickly fled into the closest door he could find, and suddenly he was back in the room filled with time magic. He turned and saw two huge Death Eaters barreling towards him. They were nearly upon him when—

" _Colloportus_!" gasped Hermione and the door sealed itself with an odd squelching noise.

"Where—where are the others?" gasped Harry.

He had thought that Ron, Luna, and Ginny had been ahead of them, that they would be waiting in this room, but there was nobody there.

"They must have gone the wrong way!" whispered Hermione, terror in her face.

"Listen!" whispered Neville.

Footsteps and shouts echoed from behind the door they had just sealed. Harry put his hear close to the door to listen and heard Lucius Malfoy roar: "Leave Nott, _leave him, I say,_ the Dark Lord will not care for Nott's injuries as much as losing that prophecy—Jugson, come back here, we need to organize! We'll split into pairs and search, and don't forget, be gentle with Potter until we've got the prophecy, you can kill the others if necessary—Bellatrix, Rodolphus, you take the left, Crabbe, Rabastan, go right—Macnair and Avery, through here—Rookwood, over there—Mulciber, come with me!"

"What do we do?" Hermione asked Harry, trembling from head to foot.

"Well, we don't stand here waiting for them to find us, for a start," said Harry. "Let's get away from this door…"

They ran, quietly as they could, past the shimmering bell jar where the tiny egg was hatching and unhatching, toward the exit into the circular hallway at the far end of the room. They were almost there when Harry heard something large and heavy collide with the door Hermione had charmed shut.

"Stand aside!" said a rough voice. " _Alohamora!_ "

As the door flew open, Harry, Hermione, and Neville dived under desks. They could see the bottom of two Death Eaters' robes drawing nearer, their feet moving rapidly.

"They might've run straight through to the hall," said the rough voice.

"Check under the desks," said another.

Harry saw the knees of the Death Eaters bend. Poking his wand out from under the desk he shouted, " _STUPEFY!_ "

A jet of red light hit the nearest Death Eater; he fell backward into a grandfather clock and knocked it over. The second Death Eater, however, had leapt aside to avoid Harry's spell and now pointed his own wand at Hermione, who had crawled out from under the desk to get a better aim.

" _Avada_ —"

Harry launched himself across the floor and grabbed the Death Eater around the knees, causing him to topple and his aim to go awry. Neville overturned his desk in his anxiety to help; pointing his wand wildly at the struggling pair he cried, " _EXPELLIARMUS!_ "

Both Harry's and the Death Eater's wands flew out of their hands and soared back toward the entrance to the Hall of Prophecy; both scrambled to their feet and charged after them, the Death Eater in front and Harry hot on his heels, Neville bringing up the rear, plainly horrorstruck at what he had done.

The Death Eater snatched his wand off of the floor, and when Harry stooped to pick up his, the Death Eater gave him a shove and sent him tumbling into a glass-fronted cabinet on the wall filled with variously shaped hourglasses. The cabinet wobbled dangerously, and the glass door slowly opened.

"Harry!" yelled Neville, clearly determined to repair the damage.

Neville took aim again and shouted, " _STUPIFY!"_

The force of Neville's stunner lifted the Death Eater off his feet and slammed into the cabinet as well. Harry glanced upward and saw a large hourglass filled with deep purple sand falling towards his head. He tried to move out of the way, but the unconscious Death Eater in his lap stopped him. The glass hit him and shattered, spilling the sand all over him. In an instant, his vision swam, and it seemed as if he was watching the world on fast forward. He tried to clear his vision, but he succumbed to the pain and slipped out of consciousness.

* * *

Harry awoke with a start. His head throbbed, and pressing his fingers to it, he could feel blood. He was still sitting in the same position, but the desks that had been so recently overturned were neatly organized and rotten. Harry slowly got to his feet, clutching his aching head.

He touched a hand to one of the suddenly ancient desks and felt a layer of dust that made it seem that this room hadn't been used in decades.

"Ron!" yelled Harry, his voice echoing back at him. "Hermione! Neville! Luna!" Each name was met with more and more silence.

Harry stumbled out of the room and into the hallway leading to the rest of the Ministry. Here too he found evidence of abandonment. A box of quills, and a dust-filled box labeled "Spare Parchment." His footsteps echoed down the hallway, and a sense of dread began to creep over Harry.

All of a sudden, there were two other sets of footsteps echoing along with his. Harry gripped his wand tighter and listened for any clue as to who these two were.

"I swear to god, if this is another false alarm, I'm going to kill someone" a voice rang out, deep and gravelly.

"Ah, shove it Perez," another voice this time, equally gravelly but a higher pitch. "This is the easiest assignment ever. We get combat pay to do a security guard's job. Whoever this Potter guy is, the Illusive Man must want him bad."

As the two came into view, Harry noticed immediately that they seemed rather odd. Everything else he had seen in the past few minutes seemed old and decrepit, but these two soldiers were outfitted in gear Harry had never seen. Both were outfitted head to toe in armor, each with a matching orange, black, and grey logo. Their helmets obscured their faces, and made it look as if they were scowling at every person that looked their direction. The weapon they each held was some kind of gun that Harry had never seen in his life. It was as if they had stepped out of one of Dudley's space marine video games.

Harry suddenly found himself wishing he had his invisibility cloak. He couldn't shake the feeling that whoever these two were, their presence here was not good for him. Harry turned to run the other direction, and immediately tripped and fell over one of the rotten desks. Cursing his bad luck, Harry turned to find himself looking down the barrels of two very intimidating-looking weapons.

"Drop your wand," the gun on the left said, "and put your hands on your head."

Harry complied, with a horrible sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He felt cold, metal cuffs slap on to his wrists, and was jerked upwards by the guard who picked up his wand.

"I can't believe it," the guard behind him said as Harry was marched out of the Ministry. "I don't know how the Illusive Man gets his info. Looks like Teltin has another test subject."


	2. Prologue - Part 1

_Years later…_

The SSV Normandy was a feat of modern engineering. It was a symbol of cooperation between Turians and Humans, both species having worked on the project together. But aside from its symbolic importance, it was the most advanced stealth ship in the known universe. The amount of Element Zero, or Eezo, in the drive core was enough to power 12,000 fighters, and the IES (internal emissions system) kept the ship invisible to thermal scans for all but FTL speeds. It was a good ship. And it was making its maiden voyage with the best crew available.

Flight Lieutenant Jeff "Joker" Moreau was currently guiding the Normandy toward the enormous Mass Relay. His deft hands flew across the navigation panels like a pianist playing a concerto.

"The board is green. Approach run has begun," he said, his calm tone marking him as a highly skilled and experienced pilot. Not every ship made it through its first relay jump, and Joker wasn't about to fail this one.

"Hitting the relay in 3…2…1…" the ship jolted as they were thrown out of their local cluster at speeds that would make Newton blush. In a matter of seconds, they arrived at the Exodus Cluster, and Joker laid in a course for the Utopia system.

Their inaugural run would take them past the human colony of Eden Prime. Officially, this was to test the IES against humanity's best sensors. But there were rumblings among the crew that this wasn't the whole truth. Joker might have been responsible for starting these rumblings, but having Council SPECTRE Nihlus Kryik on board certainly amplified things. It gave the Normandy's executive officer, Commander John Shepard, a headache. He had to be responsible to quell these rumblings, and it didn't help that he believed them himself. Shepard was standing behind Joker, with Nihlus at his right, watching Joker go over the post-jump checks.

"Thrust…check. Navigation…check. IES engaged. All systems online. Drift…just under 1500K," Joker reported with a hint of pride in his voice.

"1500 is good," Nihlus remarked. "Your captain will be pleased." He turned away and walked off.

As soon as the SPECTRE was out of earshot, Joker said, "I hate that guy."

 _Here we go again,_ thought Shepard, but before he could rebuke Joker, Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, who was sitting in one of the copilot seats, spoke up.

"Nihlus gave you a compliment…so you hate him?" Kaidan puzzled.

"You remember to zip up your jumpsuit on the way out of the bathroom? That's good. I just jumped us halfway across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead. So that's incredible!" Joker said. "Besides, SPECTREs are trouble. I don't like having him on board. Call me paranoid."

"You're paranoid," obliged Kaidan, with a smirk. "The council helped fund this project. They have a right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment."

"Yeah, that is the official story. But only an idiot believes the official story," Joker countered.

As much as he wanted to, Shepard couldn't disagree. "They don't send SPECTREs on shakedown runs."

"So there's more going on here than the captain's letting on," Joker continued.

At that moment, the comm unit flared to life, and Captain Anderson's deep voice rang through. "Joker! Status report."

"Just cleared the mass relay captain," Joker said, switching back to a more professional tone. "Stealth systems engaged. Everything looks solid."

"Good. Find a comm buoy and link us into the network. I want mission reports relayed to Alliance brass before we reach Eden Prime," Anderson ordered.

"Aye aye captain. Better brace yourself, sir. I think Nihlus is headed your way," Joker warned.

"He's already here, Lieutenant," Anderson replied, sounding none too pleased. "Tell Commander Shepherd to meet me in the comm room for a debriefing." The Captain closed the channel.

"He sounds angry. Something must have gone wrong with the mission," Shepard remarked. He turned and left for the comm room.

"Captain always sounds like that when you're talking to me," Joker said.

"I can't possibly imagine why," said Kaidan, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

* * *

Shepard was on his way to the comm room when he heard one of the lance corporals talking to Doctor Chakwas. He had all the markings of a salty grunt, faded camis and all, and had just recently been assigned to the Normandy.

"I spent a year on Eden Prime, Doc. It's not the kind of place SPECTREs visit. There's something Nihlus isn't telling us about this mission," the corporal said. Shepard couldn't quite remember his name.

"That's crazy. The captain is in charge here. He wouldn't take orders from a SPECTRE," Doctor Chakwas retorted. She was the elder of the two, more grey in her than brown. The good doctor had gotten a lot of men through what should have killed them. Shepard was glad to have her aboard.

"Not his choice, Doc," the corporal said. Now that Shepard was closer to the pair, he could see the scar on the corporal's forehead. Shepard recognized him now; that was Lance Corporal Harry Potter. "SPECTREs don't answer to anybody. They can do whatever they want. Kill anyone who gets in their way."

At that, Doctor Chakwas laughed. "You've been watching too many spy vids, Potter."

Harry turned to Shepard, who was next to them now. "What do you think, Commander? We won't be staying on Eden Prime long, will we? I'm thinking we see some real action soon."

"I sincerely hope you're wrong, corporal," Chakwas said. "Your 'real action' usually ends with me patching up crew members in the infirmary."

"You need to calm down, corporal," Shepard admonished. "A good soldier stays cool, even under fire."

"Oh, no sir, please don't get me wrong," said Harry apologetically. "If all this mission turns out to be is a dry run past a boring planet, I'll be happy. I just don't think it will be."

"A good attitude to have. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Carry on, Potter," Shepard moved past the pair and into the comm room, where he found Nihlus standing alone, facing an image of Eden prime. Nihlus heard Shepherd enter, and turned to greet him.

"Commander Shepherd. I was hoping you'd get here first. It will give us a chance to talk," Nihlus greeted.

"What about?" Shepard replied. This would be the longest conversation Shepard had ever had with a SPECTRE, and their reputation made him a little defensive.

"I'm interested in this world we're going to—Eden Prime. I've heard it's quite beautiful."

"They say it's a paradise," agreed Shepard, never having been there himself.

"Yes, a paradise. Serene. Tranquil. Safe. Eden Prime has become something of a symbol for your people, hasn't it?" Nihlus asked, more to himself than to Shepard. "Proof that Humanity can not only establish colonies across the galaxy, but also protect them. But how safe is it really?" Nihlus asked again, this time with more edge to his voice.

Shepard's doubts came swirling to the surface again. Joker's rants really had affected him.

"Do you know something?" Shepard asked, a little aggressively.

Nihlus was not cowed. "Your people are still newcomers, Shepard. The galaxy can be a very dangerous place. Is the Alliance truly ready for this?" At that question, the door to the comm room opened and Captain Anderson stepped in.

"I think it's about time we told the commander what's really going on," he said.

"This mission is far more than a simple shakedown run," Nihlus added.

 _Goddammit, Joker was right,_ Shepard thought. He was never going to hear the end of this. Outwardly, he said, "I figured there was something you weren't telling us."

"We're making a covert pickup on Eden prime. That's why we need the stealth systems operational," Anderson explained.

"There must be a reason you didn't tell me about this, sir," said Shepard, wanting to trust his captain.

"This comes down from the top, commander. Information strictly on a need-to-know basis," Anderson explained. Shepard knew it had to be big. Anderson didn't keep many secrets from his XO.

"A research team on Eden Prime unearthed some kind of beacon during an excavation," Anderson continued. "It was Prothean."

Shepard was understandably confused. "I thought the Protheans vanished fifty thousand years ago," he said.

At this, Nihlus spoke. "Their legacy still remains. The mass relays, the Citadel, our ship drives—it's all based on Prothean technology."

"What else can you tell me?" asked Shepard, probing for any information he could get.

"This is big, Shepard," said Anderson. "The last time humanity made a discovery like this, it jumped our technology forward two hundred years. But Eden Prime doesn't have the facilities to handle something like this. We need to bring it back to the Citadel for proper study."

"Obviously, this goes beyond mere human interests, Commander. This discovery could affect every species in Council space," explained Nihlus.

"It never hurts to have a few extra hands on board," said Shepard. If even half the stories he had heard Joker muttering about were true, this would be a simple extraction.

"The beacon's not the only reason I'm here, Shepard," continued Nihlus.

"Nihlus wants to see you in action, commander," said Anderson. "He's here to evaluate you."

"Guess that explains why I bump into him every time I turn around," Shepard joked. Inside, his mind was reeling. If a SPECTRE was here to evaluate him, that meant one of two things. Either he was being recruited, or he was being given his last cigarette.

"The Alliance has been pushing this for a long time. Humanity wants a larger role in shaping interstellar policy. We want more say with the Citadel Council," continued Anderson. "The SPECTREs represent the Council's power and authority. If they accept a human into their ranks, it shows how far the Alliance has come."

"You held off an enemy assault during the Blitz single-handed," said Nihlus, with a hint of admiration in his voice. "You showed not only courage, but incredible skill. That's why I put forward your name as a candidate for the SPECTREs."

He was being recruited. Shepard wondered briefly if SPECTREs had a school they went through before remembering that a corporal had told him that SPECTREs had to be chosen by the Council and were given no further training. He looked over to Captain Anderson. "I assume this is good for the alliance."

"Earth needs this, Shepard. We're counting on you," Anderson confirmed.

"I need to see your skills for myself, Commander. Eden Prime will be the first of several missions together," Nihlus explained.

"You'll be in charge of the ground team," said Anderson. "Secure the beacon and get it onto the ship ASAP. Nihlus will accompany you to observe the mission."

"Just give the word, Captain," Shepherd said. He felt the pre-mission anticipation start to build.

"We should be getting close to Eden—" Anderson started, but Joker cut him off on the comm.

"Captain! We got a problem," Joker said. Despite Joker's eccentricities, he was never someone who needlessly bothered the Captain with trivial matters. If he said there was a problem, it was a big one.

"What's wrong, Joker?"Anderson asked at once.

"Transmission from Eden Prime, sir. You better see this," Joker said hurriedly.

"Bring it up on screen," ordered Anderson.

The message flared to life on the comm screen, and it was clear that whatever paradise this colony was once, it was no longer. The sounds of a firefight were immediate. Alliance weapons were sounding off against some kind of energy blasts, and marines were scrambling everywhere trying to mount an effective defense. A woman ran up to the messenger and shoved him into the dirt, yelling, "Get down!"

Shepard counted at least 50 soldiers firing on this mysterious foe, and shots of the sky showed high levels of atmospheric disturbance for miles. This wasn't an isolated incident. All of Eden Prime was under attack. One of the soldiers ran up to the messenger and started speaking.

"We are under attack! Taking heavy casualties. I repeat: heavy casualties! We can't-" He was drowned out by an explosion nearby, "—eed evac! They came out of nowhere! We need—" the soldier was blasted past the messenger. If he wasn't dead already, he wasn't far from it.

All of a sudden, there was a gut-wrenching noise that came from the sky above the soldiers. The messenger looked up and saw an impossibly large ship looming over them. He looked back to another soldier, who was simply staring in horror at the giant ship. The messenger looked back, looked around on the battlefield, and then there was nothing but static.

"Everything cuts out after that," said Joker. "No comm traffic at all. Just goes dead. There's nothing," Joker finished in a worried voice.

"Reverse and hold at 38.5," ordered Anderson.

The comm screen once again held an image, this time a still of the massive ship seen just before the end of the message. It looked like the corrupted hand of god, coming to smite the colonists of Eden Prime. Shepard had never seen anything like it in his long career with the Alliance. From the looks of the other two men, neither had they.

"Status report," demanded Anderson

"Seventeen minutes out, sir. No other Alliance ships in the area," Joker said.

"Take us in, Joker. Fast and quiet. This mission just got a lot more complicated," said Anderson. He looked to Nihlus.

"A small strike team can move quickly without drawing attention," said Nihlus, correctly interpreting the captain's unasked request for input. "It's our best chance to secure the beacon,"

Anderson nodded. "Grab your gear and meet us in the cargo hold." The Spectre walked off to prepare. Anderson turned to Shepherd next.

"Tell Alenko, Jenkins, and Potter to suit up, Commander. You're going in."


	3. Prologue - Part 2

Every soldier got pre-mission jitters. Some would pace, others listen to music, and some would simply stare into space, mentally preparing for the ordeal about to come. Shepard was no different. His pre-mission ritual was to go over his gear. Weapons check, armor check, review the briefing. It was a useful one, and had saved his ass more than a few times. He looked over to Corporal Jenkins and saw the young man sweating bullets. That one was common too, especially with the newbies.

"Nervous, Jenkins?" Shepard asked.

"Can't help it, sir," Jenkins replied. "Always did get stage fright. Even in elementary school. The class play was hell," he said with a grin.

Shepard chuckled. "Well, let's just hope we're not up against any parents with cameras."

"Will do, sir," said Jenkins, looking a little calmer.

Shepherd walked over to the end of the cargo bay, where he and his team would make the drop to the planet's surface. There he found Harry, sitting alone. He appeared deep in thought. Shepard sat down across from him, his eyes drifting to the scar on Harry's forehead.

"Mind if I ask about that?" Shepard said, indicating to Harry's forehead.

"Oh, yeah. Got that when I was a baby," said Harry. "Fell out of my crib and got whacked on the head. Not as exciting as some of my other scars," Harry said nonchalantly.

"You might want to play up the danger a little bit when you tell the story again," said Shepard with a smile.

"Oh I do," laughed Harry. "I just didn't see the point in lying to the hero of the Blitz."

"Fair enough," said Shepard. "What do you tell the ladies?"

Harry smirked. "I say I got it protecting an innocent woman and child from a Batarian slaver."

"Serves that imaginary Batarian right," said Shepard.

"Yeah. 'Course, that actually did happen, but that scar's not so visible with clothes on."

Shepard was about to respond, but Joker's voice rang out.

"Engaging stealth systems."

That meant they were almost there. Alenko, Jenkins and Potter all formed up behind Shepard. Nihlus and Anderson both came out to the jump zone. They all felt the shudder of the Normandy hitting Eden Prime's atmosphere.

Nihlus jumped out at the first drop point to scout ahead while Anderson gave the squad a briefing.

Shepard turned toward the outside of the ship, waiting for Joker's signal. When it came, the ship slowed just enough to allow him and his team to jump safely to the ground. There was no turning back now. The mission had begun.

* * *

Kaidan's question about survivors was looking less and less relevant the longer they were on the surface. Shepard heard the sounds of a one-sided battle in the distance, and as they moved forward, the air got more and more acrid. At this rate, Shepard thought they would be lucky to see another living being.

Nihlus' voice came over the radio. "This place got hit hard, Commander. Keep your guard up."

Shepard drew his weapon, a standard issue assault rifle, when he heard Jenkins say, "Oh god, what happened here?"

"No time for questions like that, Jenkins," said Harry. "We need to keep moving."

The four of them headed up over a hill, Shepard taking point. He motioned for the team to stop, thinking he saw an enemy. Looking closer, it turned out to just be a gasbag floating slowly above the ground. Relaxing a little, he motioned forward.

The team pushed forward, and Jenkins was at the head when two combat drones flew out from behind a rock. Before any of them could react, both of them started firing. Jenkins' shields were lit up like a Christmas tree, and were quick to fall. Harry threw some biotic energy at one of them, and it flew backwards into a tree, collapsing in a mess of sparks. Shepard fired on the drone in the hopes that it might take the fire off of Jenkins, but it was too little, too late. By the time Kaidan finally shot it with his pistol, Jenkins was on the ground, dead.

"Dammit," muttered Harry.

"Ripped through his shields. Never had a chance," said Kaidan sadly.

"We can't stop here. We need to leave him and push on," said Harry.

"Jesus, Corporal," said Kaidan. "That's heartless."

"We'll see he gets a proper burial later, Kaidan. Right now, I need us all focused on the mission," said Shepard.

"Aye aye, sir," Kaidan said. And with that, they moved on.

* * *

Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams was never one to run from a fight. However, when what you're fighting is an army of genocidal super robots from the nightmare regions of space, running starts to look like a damn good option. Nothing about this situation felt real yet. A week ago, the Geth were just some vague, threatening presence. Today, she watched them wipe out her entire squad. She fought back as best she could, but their position got overrun, and now she was quite literally running for her life.

She heard drones following her. She whipped her head back to get a look at how many there were. There were only two, which was lucky. What wasn't lucky was that while she was looking backward, her foot caught on a rock, and she fell. Quickly twisting onto her back, she drew her pistol and fired as fast as she could. Both drones quickly fell to her well-placed shots.

When she got up, Ashley noticed two Geth putting a barely conscious man onto a strange tripod. She briefly wondered what they were trying to accomplish. Then out of the tripod shot a massive spike, impaling the man and killing him instantly.

One of the Geth turned and looked at Ashley. It started towards her, so she sprinted behind a massive rock. _Finally_ , she thought, drawing her assault rifle. _At last, a little bit of cover_. However, that was a fleeting joy. Her life expectancy was draining rapidly, and she knew the Geth were approaching quickly. Praying one last prayer for salvation, she turned to engage the enemy.

Before she could line up her first shot, one of the Geth got thrown against the wall and crumpled to the ground. She aimed towards the second, and was just in time to see its headlamp perforated by a barrage of bullets. She saw a human in her peripheral vision, and turned to thank the cavalry when she saw him. Commander Shepard. Hero of the Skyllian Blitz. Jesus.

"Thanks for your help, Commander. I didn't think I was gonna make it," Ashley thanked him. He was more handsome than the vids made him seem.

He turned to her. "You're the soldier from the recording. Where's the rest of your squad?" he asked.

"I…I think I'm the only one left," said Ashley.

Shepard put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "There wasn't anything you could have done. What's your name, soldier?"

"Gunnery Sergeant Ashley Williams, sir," she replied.

"Do you know where the beacon is, Williams?" he asked.

"It's just over that ridge. That's probably what they're after," she said.

"You know the planet better than we do. Why don't you come with us?"

"It'd be an honor, sir," Ashley replied. "Time for some payback."

"I like her already," Harry chimed in.

* * *

When the team got there, the beacon had already been moved. Next, they tried the research camp just above them, but that too yielded nothing but more bodies on spikes, looking more and more machine-like the farther they went. Nihlus updated Shepard with his location, and they moved out to meet him. Just before they got there, however, a shot rang out and more Geth airdropped in to greet them.

Shepard and his team made quick work of them, but then something happened that none of them expected. The spikes with the bodies on them retracted into their tripods, and the blackened corpses slid off and charged them. Shepard and Ashley felled several, but one got close to them and let out a blast of electric energy. It caught Harry, and he was thrown to the ground. The husk of a man started towards him, but was dropped by Kaidan.

Harry swore. "My shields are fried. Any more like that and I'm done for."

"Can you keep going?" asked Shepard.

"Yeah, but I'll need to keep my Barrier up at all times. That's gonna drain me, so we're going to have to double time it to the beacon."

The four of them finally made it onto the platform, where they saw Nihlus; face down in a pool of his own blood. They discovered a survivor, who told them it was a Spectre named Saren that killed Nihlus, and where to find the beacon. So they battled their way down to the train and took it to the next platform.

Break

Kaidan was the first to notice something wrong on the second platform.

"Shepard!" he said, pointing to the large object sitting on the floor. "That's a bomb!"

"And another one up there!" Ashley yelled, pointing to a similar object on the level above them.

Shepard swore. "Alright, who has explosive ordinance training?" Both Kaidan and Harry raised their hands. Quickly, Shepard formulated a plan.

"Alright. Kaidan, you work on defusing this one. Harry, you move up to the second one and defuse that. I'll cover Kaidan and Williams will cover you," he ended, pointing at Harry. "If there's more than just these two, as soon as you're done, move to the next. Now go!"

Kaidan and Harry rushed to their assignments. Kaidan completed his faster, because he didn't have to hold up a Barrier the whole time. They came under fire from a few more Geth, but they pushed forward, disarmed all the bombs, and secured the beacon.

Harry collapsed from exhaustion after Shepard called in Joker for an extraction. Ashley approached the beacon slowly with a curious expression. It was glowing green, and shooting a beam of green light into the sky.

"Weird. When we dug it up, it wasn't-" Ashley got cut off when the light pulsed and started to drag her toward it.

Shepard ran up to drag her away from the ancient technology, but when he broke her free, he got trapped himself. It slowly lifted him into the air as Kaidan and Ashley watched helplessly. After a few seconds, the beacon exploded and Shepard dropped to the ground, unconscious.


	4. Chapter 4

Harry was in the mess when he saw the Commander walk out of the med bay. Doctor Chakwas had finally cleared him, then. Everyone was worried about Shepard, Harry included. He had already lost enough without adding one of the best commanding officers he had ever worked for. Harry walked over to him.

"Good to see you up and moving, Commander. Not even the Protheans could keep you down for long, hey?" He joked.

"Yeah, they sure did try, though," Shepard smiled back. There was something horribly familiar Harry saw in Shepard's face. Something he had seen in his own a lifetime ago.

"Visions?" Harry guessed, hoping he was mistaken. Judging from Shepard's reaction, he wasn't.

"How did you know?" Shepard asked, looking shaken.

Harry's hand unconsciously shot up to his scar. "I've had experience. It's never anything good, is it?"

Shepard chuckled at that. "That could be my family motto," he replied. "Anyway, we're heading to the Citadel to get Saren locked up and thrown out of the Spectres."

Harry groaned. "Politicians are not my cup of tea, sir. I'd much rather not go."

"Request denied, Corporal," Shepard smiled. "If I have to go, I need someone to suffer along with me." With that, Shepard made his way up to the main deck, getting "Welcome back!" and "Good to see you again, sir!" thrown at him the whole way there.

Harry glanced over at Ashley. "Hey, Williams. Have you ever seen the Citadel?"

Ashley shook her head. "Can't say that I have."

"You should head up to the cockpit. It's a sight. Plus, Shepard's up there already," Harry added with a wink.

"O-oh, is he really?" Ashley asked, a little pink in the face. "Well then, since I've never seen it, I might as well," she continued, walking off and muttering justifications until Harry couldn't hear her anymore.

Harry chuckled. _Young love,_ he thought to himself. Harry still didn't know why he had been brought to this strange future, nor did he know how. He didn't even know where his wand was, or if it even existed anymore. But he was determined to find the answers to these questions, and once he did, there would be vengeance.

* * *

The trial of Saren Arterius was little more than a show. After all, the only concrete evidence they had was the testimony of a terrified dockworker. The Council decided against any action towards Saren. It was logical, but damned if it wasn't frustrating. After the trial, Ambassador Udina, Anderson, and Shepard were discussing how to get new evidence to present to the Council.

"Who was that Turian that was arguing with the Executor earlier? I think he could be useful in this investigation," Shepard turned to the rest of the team.

"Garrus, wasn't it?" Harry said.

"Very well," said Udina. "Shepard, get in contact with C-Sec Officer Harkin and find this Garrus."

"Harkin's a drunk, Ambassador. I don't think that's going to be the best use of our time," countered Anderson.

"Captain Anderson, if you have any better ideas, now is the time," said Udina harshly. The Captain remained silent. "It's settled then," Udina strolled off importantly.

When he was out of earshot, Anderson spoke again. "There might be another way to get what we're after."

"I'm all ears, Captain," said Shepard.

"There's an information broker named Barla Von on the Citadel. He's in the financial district, and all the rumors go through him. You may be able to find what you need there."

Harry's ears perked up. "Sir, I could take care of that for you while you go rough up Harkin a little bit."

Shepard thought for a second. "We'll split up into two teams. Kaidan, Harry, you two will go to the information broker and get what you can. Williams, you come with me."

"Aye aye, sir," smiled Ashley.

"You'll probably find Harkin in the bottom of a bottle at Chora's Den," Anderson said. "Good luck, Shepard."

* * *

It occurred to Harry that he didn't know much about Kaidan. On the walk over to the financial district, he took the opportunity to get to know the lieutenant better.

"So, how'd you get your eezo?" It was a common conversation starter among human biotics.

"I got exposed in utero. Managed to beat the odds. You?" Kaidan asked.

"I was 15," Harry replied.

"Jesus!" Kaidan said, shocked. "How did you survive?"

"Certainly wasn't fun," Harry said. "Most of the kids I was with didn't. Then the facility we were in violently closed."

"What facility was that?" Kaidan asked.

"Don't know. I'm hoping to find that out today," Harry said.

"Pretty slick, Corporal," said Kaidan, cracking a smile. "Looks like we're here."

They stopped in front of a wholly unremarkable office building. Taking the lead, Harry opened the door and stepped inside.

* * *

Shepard and Ashley opted to take a taxi to Chora's Den. Not much was said on the way there. Shepard was focused on Saren, and Ashley was in awe of Shepard. They both clamored out of the taxi at their stop and started towards the door. The bar looked seedier than a wheat field, and Shepard guessed that any Asari in the place weren't going to be patrons.

When the pair got closer to the den, Shepard noticed two people in the crowd outside draw weapons.

"Williams!" Shepard started.

"I see them!" Ashley yelled.

The assassins fired as both Shepard and Ashley dove for cover. Chaos erupted around them as the crowd around them panicked and fled. Shepard quickly drew his sidearm and looked over to Ashley, who had done the same.

"I'll provide covering fire while you go around and flank them! On my mark!" Shepard ordered.

"Aye sir!" Ashley waited for Shepard to call it. She didn't have to wait long.

Shepard peeked out of cover and fired towards the two assassins, shouting for Ashley to move. Once she was out of their sight, Shepard rolled back behind cover. He was pinned down and they were advancing. Suddenly, there were two short volleys of fire, and then silence. Shepard peeked out again to find the two assassins face down, with Ashley standing above them. She smirked.

"Headed my way, Marine?"

"I could think of worse things to do," Shepard chuckled. "Shall we?" He gestured toward the bar's entrance.

"Yes please," said Ashley, the flush in her cheeks having little to do with the gunfight.


End file.
